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Senate Passes Bill Curtailing Credit Card Industry

danarhea

danarhea

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You make your payments on time at a 14% interest rate. After the economy goes south, the credit card companies raise your interest rate to 22%, and include your PRIOR transactions for the new interest rate. That is what happened to me with one card, and on another card, my interest rate shot up from 18% to 31% because they claim they received a payment late, although I mailed it more than 2 weeks before the due date .

But guess what I did? I paid my credit cards off, and then cut them up. These robber barons will never get another dime out of me. I am free.

I don't give a damn one way or the other what the government does to reign in abuse by credit card companies. I simply do not need them. If I want something badly enough, I will get it when I have the cash for it. No reason to have my pocked picked by excessively high interest rates, or having to submit to arbitrary rules designed for the express purpose of screwing you, right in the ass.

Credit cards - Who the **** needs them. I have cash and a check book, so **** 'em. I even cut up my debit card so the bastards can't make a dime in merchant fees from those transactions either. Consider this a complete "financial divorce". :)

Master card - Don't leave your home with it. :mrgreen:

Article is here.
 
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Hope ya don't need to rent a car. :2wave:

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The future is going to be annual membership fees and higher rates for the "good credit" risks, and no chance at all for the credit challenged.
 
The Senate voted for this 90-5... so much for the Republicans being too far right.
 
danarhea said:
I have my own, thank you.
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I currently have three vehicles, but I rent at least one almost every week. Flying into a distant city and just hanging out at the airport isn't that much fun. The auto rental dudes always insist on seeing my credit card. ;)

.
 
Some people do need credit cards. Some just want them. Backdated interest increases strike me as an unfair business practice. I see no real problem with this. People should not have to destroy their credit cards to be safe from "robber baron" credit card companies.
 
Redress said:
Some people do need credit cards. Some just want them. Backdated interest increases strike me as an unfair business practice. I see no real problem with this. People should not have to destroy their credit cards to be safe from "robber baron" credit card companies.
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Read the contract

its actually gasp...

all in there!!!!!!!
 
Redress said:
Some people do need credit cards. Some just want them. Backdated interest increases strike me as an unfair business practice. I see no real problem with this. People should not have to destroy their credit cards to be safe from "robber baron" credit card companies.
Click to expand...

Lucky for me, I don't need them, nor do I want them any more.
 
I have a credit card and a line of credit. The credit card is always kept empty and the line of credit has such a low interest rate that minimal payments are easy. For a student, this is a good system.

I think cc companies are scum, but if you are young and disciplined like me :), having a well maintained cc will help your credit report for bigger financial decisions later on. You have to have credit to get credit.
 
IN march, all of a sudden various different CC accounts started popping up on my credit report; none of which I had ever had, my credit rating went from 800+ down to 700 something and my credit card limits suddenly dropped by a factor of 11.
Apparently those new accounts that popped up all had late payments on them.
Interesting.

So after the credit was dropped by a factor of 11 times, they said that I had exceeded my credit and was going to be charged for overdraft as well as a new rate of 29% daily.
paid it off, cut it up.
These guys are scum.
 
While I agree that credit card companies are shady at best, I don't like the government getting involved. It's in the fine print if you read it. People have the right to be stupid, too.

I, too, paid mine off. Still have three cards, one that's been very fair to me for many years, one that earns airline miles by the bushel, and an Amex with no limit. I never use them, so why do I have them? I don't know, just do.

I think the one good thing about this economic downturn is that people will be more conservative with their finances even when the recession is over and the unemployment rate drops, whenever that is.
 
Orius said:
I have a credit card and a line of credit. The credit card is always kept empty and the line of credit has such a low interest rate that minimal payments are easy. For a student, this is a good system.

I think cc companies are scum, but if you are young and disciplined like me :), having a well maintained cc will help your credit report for bigger financial decisions later on. You have to have credit to get credit.
Click to expand...

Yup. But you are a level-headed, young fiscal conservative. We must legislate to make sure people don't feel guilty for the irresponsible financial decisions.
 
Can someone explain to me exactly what this law does? From what I hear it rewards low credit ratings, which I find to be a bit odd....
 
danarhea said:
You make your payments on time at a 14% interest rate. After the economy goes south, the credit card companies raise your interest rate to 22%, and include your PRIOR transactions for the new interest rate. That is what happened to me with one card, and on another card, my interest rate shot up from 18% to 31% because they claim they received a payment late, although I mailed it more than 2 weeks before the due date .

But guess what I did? I paid my credit cards off, and then cut them up. These robber barons will never get another dime out of me. I am free.

I don't give a damn one way or the other what the government does to reign in abuse by credit card companies. I simply do not need them. If I want something badly enough, I will get it when I have the cash for it. No reason to have my pocked picked by excessively high interest rates, or having to submit to arbitrary rules designed for the express purpose of screwing you, right in the ass.

Credit cards - Who the **** needs them. I have cash and a check book, so **** 'em. I even cut up my debit card so the bastards can't make a dime in merchant fees from those transactions either. Consider this a complete "financial divorce". :)

Master card - Don't leave your home with it. :mrgreen:

Article is here.
Click to expand...


Finally, there is some justice for the people. Finally, the government has put a foot up big business' ass.

This is a step in the right direction.
 
Dav said:
Can someone explain to me exactly what this law does? From what I hear it rewards low credit ratings, which I find to be a bit odd....
Click to expand...

It outlaws credit sodomy.
 
Dav said:
Can someone explain to me exactly what this law does? From what I hear it rewards low credit ratings, which I find to be a bit odd....
Click to expand...



Basically what it does is stop credit card companies form suddenly(they can do it in 45 days) changing interest rates or fines. Which is all well and good.

Problem with it is it basically penalizes the on time payer. IOW the good credit card holder.
IE- from the article-
When credit cards were introduced about 50 years ago, issuers practiced a one-size-fits-all approach of charging an annual fee and roughly the same interest rate of about 18 percent to everyone. As the industry became more deregulated in the 1980s, around the time that credit scores were introduced, issuers were able to separate the risky from the not-so-risky borrower and tailor the terms of card contracts.

The money they made from customers who did not pay their bills in full each month became an important revenue source. The industry makes $15 billion annually from penalty fees, and one-fifth of consumers carrying credit card debt pay an interest rate above 20 percent, according to figures cited by the White House and compiled from the Government Accountability Office and the Federal Reserve.

To make up for the lost revenue, card issuers will turn to those customers who pay what they owe in full and on time every month, analysts said. Gone will be the days when creditworthy customers enjoyed the benefits of low interest rates and cards that offer rewards such as frequent flier miles and cash back, they said. Annual fees, which had been banished to cards with rewards programs, are likely to return. Offers for zero percent balance transfers are likely to become more rare.

"This industry will start looking more like a one-size-fits-all pricing approach which dominated in the '80s -- 18 percent interest and $20 annual fees," said David Robertson, publisher of the Nilson Report, which covers the industry. Customers who pay in full each month will have "to start picking up the slack, to start pulling their weight."

Consumer advocates and legislators pointed out that the legislation still allows issuers to raise interest rates for future purchases as long as they give 45 days' notice. It also does not set any interest rate caps, allowing issuers to charge new customers any rate they want.
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